diff --git a/stylus-tools/Cargo.toml b/stylus-tools/Cargo.toml
index ebf3c7da..92d0d3f9 100644
--- a/stylus-tools/Cargo.toml
+++ b/stylus-tools/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ license.workspace = true
 repository.workspace = true
 version.workspace = true
 
+include = [
+    "src/**/*",
+    "precompiles/*.sol",
+    "templates/**",
+]
+
 [dependencies]
 alloy = { workspace = true, features = ["contract", "getrandom", "rpc-types", "signer-local", "sol-types"] }
 cargo-util-schemas.workspace = true
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/core/project/init.rs b/stylus-tools/src/core/project/init.rs
index f01b8ed8..364154ac 100644
--- a/stylus-tools/src/core/project/init.rs
+++ b/stylus-tools/src/core/project/init.rs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ pub fn init_contract(path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<(), InitError> {
 
     // Add files from template
     copy_from_template_if_dne!(
-        "../../templates/contract" -> path,
+        "templates/contract" -> path,
         "src/lib.rs",
         "src/main.rs",
         "rust-toolchain.toml",
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ pub fn init_workspace(path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<(), InitError> {
 
     // Add files from template
     copy_from_template_if_dne!(
-        "../../templates/workspace" -> path,
-        "Cargo.toml",
+        "templates/workspace" -> path,
+        "Cargo.toml.tmpl",
         "rust-toolchain.toml",
         "Stylus.toml",
     );
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/core/project/new.rs b/stylus-tools/src/core/project/new.rs
index b17fc151..b5170d8c 100644
--- a/stylus-tools/src/core/project/new.rs
+++ b/stylus-tools/src/core/project/new.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ pub fn new_contract(path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<(), InitError> {
     // Remove the generated "src/lib.rs" and generate the new one
     fs::remove_file(path.join("src").join("lib.rs"))?;
     copy_from_template_if_dne!(
-        "../../templates/contract" -> path,
+        "templates/contract" -> path,
         "src/lib.rs",
     );
 
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/macros.rs b/stylus-tools/src/macros.rs
index 3bdfa6ab..8b9dfd3a 100644
--- a/stylus-tools/src/macros.rs
+++ b/stylus-tools/src/macros.rs
@@ -4,9 +4,13 @@
 macro_rules! copy_from_template {
     ($tmpl:literal -> $root:ident, $($files:expr),* $(,)?) => {
         $(
+            let mut filename = $root.join($files);
+            if filename.extension() == Some(std::ffi::OsStr::new("tmpl")) {
+                filename = filename.file_stem().unwrap().into();
+            }
             std::fs::write(
-                $root.join($files),
-                include_str!(concat!($tmpl, "/", $files)),
+                filename,
+                include_str!(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/", $tmpl, "/", $files)),
             )?;
         )*
     };
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/Cargo.toml b/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/Cargo.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index f54b7475..00000000
--- a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/Cargo.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-[dependencies]
-alloy-primitives = "=0.8.20"
-alloy-sol-types = "=0.8.20"
-mini-alloc = "0.8.4"
-stylus-sdk = "0.8.4"
-hex = "0.4.3"
-dotenv = "0.15.0"
-
-[dev-dependencies]
-tokio = { version = "1.12.0", features = ["full"] }
-ethers = "2.0"
-eyre = "0.6.8"
-stylus-sdk = { version = "0.8.4", features = ["stylus-test"] }
-
-[features]
-export-abi = ["stylus-sdk/export-abi"]
-debug = ["stylus-sdk/debug"]
-contract-client-gen = []
-
-[[bin]]
-name = "stylus-hello-world"
-path = "src/main.rs"
-
-[lib]
-crate-type = ["lib", "cdylib"]
-
-[profile.release]
-codegen-units = 1
-strip = true
-lto = true
-panic = "abort"
-# If you need to reduce the binary size, it is advisable to try other
-# optimization levels, such as "s" and "z"
-opt-level = 3
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/Stylus.toml b/stylus-tools/templates/contract/Stylus.toml
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/Stylus.toml
rename to stylus-tools/templates/contract/Stylus.toml
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/rust-toolchain.toml b/stylus-tools/templates/contract/rust-toolchain.toml
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/rust-toolchain.toml
rename to stylus-tools/templates/contract/rust-toolchain.toml
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/src/lib.rs b/stylus-tools/templates/contract/src/lib.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/src/lib.rs
rename to stylus-tools/templates/contract/src/lib.rs
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/src/main.rs b/stylus-tools/templates/contract/src/main.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/contract/src/main.rs
rename to stylus-tools/templates/contract/src/main.rs
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/Cargo.toml b/stylus-tools/templates/workspace/Cargo.toml.tmpl
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/Cargo.toml
rename to stylus-tools/templates/workspace/Cargo.toml.tmpl
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/Stylus.toml b/stylus-tools/templates/workspace/Stylus.toml
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/Stylus.toml
rename to stylus-tools/templates/workspace/Stylus.toml
diff --git a/stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/rust-toolchain.toml b/stylus-tools/templates/workspace/rust-toolchain.toml
similarity index 100%
rename from stylus-tools/src/templates/workspace/rust-toolchain.toml
rename to stylus-tools/templates/workspace/rust-toolchain.toml